Trusting in Lying Words^(A)

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ^2 (B)“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’ ” ³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(C)“Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. ^4 (D)Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’

⁵ “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly ^(E)execute ^[a]judgment between a man and his neighbor, ⁶ if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, ^(F)or walk after other gods to your hurt, ^7 (G)then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in ^(H)the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

⁸ “Behold, you trust in ^(I)lying words that cannot profit. ^9 (J)Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and ^(K)walk after other gods whom you do not know, ^10 (L)and then come and stand before Me in this house ^(M)which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? ¹¹ Has ^(N)this house, which is called by My name, become a ^(O)den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.

¹² “But go now to ^(P)My place which was in Shiloh, ^(Q)where I set My name at the first, and see ^(R)what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. ¹³ And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, ^(S)rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I ^(T)called you, but you did not answer, ¹⁴ therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to ^(U)Shiloh. ¹⁵ And I will cast you out of My sight, ^(V)as I have cast out all your brethren—^(W)the whole posterity of Ephraim.

¹⁶ “Therefore ^(X)do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; ^(Y)for I will not hear you. ¹⁷ Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ^18 (Z)The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they ^(AA)pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. ^19 (AB)Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?”

²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.”

²¹ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(AC)“Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. ^22 (AD)For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. ²³ But this is what I commanded them, saying, ^(AE)‘Obey My voice, and ^(AF)I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’ ^24 (AG)Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but ^(AH)followed^[b] the counsels and the ^[c]dictates of their evil hearts, and ^(AI)went^[d] backward and not forward. ²⁵ Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even ^(AJ)sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. ^26 (AK)Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but ^(AL)stiffened their neck. ^(AM)They did worse than their fathers.

²⁷ “Therefore ^(AN)you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.

Judgment on Obscene Religion

²⁸ “So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God ^(AO)nor receive correction. ^(AP)Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.

Excel in Giving

8 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: ² that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and ^(A)their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. ³ For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, ⁴ imploring us with much urgency ^[a]that we would receive the gift and ^(B)the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. ⁵ And not only as we had hoped, but they first ^(C)gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the ^(D)will of God. ⁶ So ^(E)we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. ⁷ But as ^(F)you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see ^(G)that you abound in this grace also.

Christ Our Pattern

^8 (H)I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(I)that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become ^(J)rich.

¹⁰ And in this ^(K)I give advice: ^(L)It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and ^(M)were desiring to do a year ago; ¹¹ but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. ¹² For ^(N)if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.

¹³ For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; ¹⁴ but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. ¹⁵ As it is written, ^(O)“He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

Collection for the Judean Saints

¹⁶ But thanks be to God who ^[b]puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. ¹⁷ For he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. ¹⁸ And we have sent with him ^(P)the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches, ¹⁹ and not only that, but who was also ^(Q)chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us ^(R)to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind, ²⁰ avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us— ^21 (S)providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

²² And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, because of the great confidence which we have in you. ²³ If anyone inquires about ^(T)Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our brethren are inquired about, they are ^(U)messengers^[c] of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴ Therefore show to them, ^[d]and before the churches, the proof of your love and of our ^(V)boasting on your behalf.

Jeremiah Mourns for His People

8 “At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. ² They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and ^(A)which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered ^(B)nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. ³ Then ^(C)death shall be chosen rather than life by all the ^[a]residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.

The Peril of False Teaching

⁴ “Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

The Prophet Mourns for the People

Administering the Gift

9 Now concerning ^(A)the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; ² for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a ^(B)year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority. ^3 (C)Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready; ⁴ lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this ^[a]confident boasting. ⁵ Therefore I thought it necessary to ^[b]exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a ^[c]grudging obligation.

The Cheerful Giver

^6 (D)But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows ^[d]bountifully will also reap ^[e]bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, ^(E)not grudgingly or of ^[f]necessity; for ^(F)God loves a cheerful giver. ^8 (G)And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. ⁹ As it is written:

¹⁰ Now ^[g]may He who ^(I)supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, ^[h]supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your ^(J)righteousness, ¹¹ while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, ^(K)which causes thanksgiving through us to God. ¹² For the administration of this service not only ^(L)supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, ¹³ while, through the proof of this ministry, they ^(M)glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal ^(N)sharing with them and all men, ¹⁴ and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding ^(O)grace of God in you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God ^(P)for His indescribable gift!